OK, so the question is, is there such a thing as a blokes convertible? If so, are these they? Something better for under $15-20k?
Talking roadster/sportscars here, not 'merican boats. I also don't wear cardigans, so probably not british.
mm12345,
Feb 3, 7:46pm
No. People half-way through gender re-assignment procedures can drive them. Cars are "neutral". If you're really worried about cr@p like that, get a holden ute with a sun roof. If you're a dirty old b@stard and want the car to pick up a bit of young skirt, Z4 or S2K don't have enough class - unless you live in Hamilton.
clark20,
Feb 3, 8:05pm
Z4 for cruising, S2000 for speed.
I love hitting 9000 rpm in the S2000, but its "hard"
lissa25,
Feb 3, 8:10pm
A CLK500, the least hairdresser of the lot, a bit more class and a v8, a cross between a senior hairstylist and farmer.
kcf,
Feb 3, 8:10pm
S2000 all day every day . I'd love one, although I could never justify the price tag :)
robotnik,
Feb 3, 8:19pm
How about a Nissan 350Z Roadster. Just maybe not the Jap import one, as Fairlady Z doesn't sound very masculine obviously.
brapbrap8,
Feb 3, 8:20pm
S2000 any day, nothing girly about that engine.
smac,
Feb 3, 8:58pm
Thanks for the comments so far. Once I started thinking about these cars I realised how swayed I am by the engine. e.g. I love the idea of the S2000, and love the fact they built it with one engine (which they then tweaked) because it was right for the car. They others seem to build a platform which they then drop 4 different engines into to try and please the masses. which kinda defeats the purpose of a car like that IMHO. MX5's simply don't do it for me, maybe it's because of that, maybe they're just underpowered. The BMW 3l I6 certainly hits the spot, so when I said Z4 was only really considering the 3l.
As for the Nissan, I like the IDEA, but I don't think they quite hit the mark. Half the attraction (for me) of the 240Z, 260Z and at a push the 280Z was the I6 - then they plonked a V6 in the 300 and 350. meh. plus looks too much like an audi TT, and the ex has one of those!
Not adverse to the idea of a "revs based" engine like the S2000, as I've been driving worked classic minis for 20 years and they're all about revs, but also love the idea of the low down grunt the Z4 has (love my Falcon for that reason). Have read a few comments online that the S2000 is just WAY too low on torque down low to make it practical. Honda obviously listened as the revised version had lower red line and more torque, but maybe not enough. I read somewhere they have the highest production piston speed? Crazy! (in a good way) but also maybe worrying.
Just thinking aloud. keen to hear any other comments especially from owners.
ralphdog1,
Feb 3, 10:20pm
Pedaled an NA MX5 for 140k and 7 years, and now an S2K for the last 4 years and about 70k. Both as daily drivers, doing about 70km per day. Love them both. The MX5 because it was the ultimate in cheap motoring, lost $7500 in the 8 years depreciation and spent $300 in non recurring maintenance, plus was bloody economical, and I thrashed the pants off it. Whilst not powerful, it made up for it in every other way. The only minor annoyance was the long line of uninformed tossers with the hair dresser comments, interestingly never found any of those said tossers who had actually driven one so quickly learned how to deal with them :-) S2K, that engine noise, the go, and general level of better refinement. Unlike the MX5, it has the power to get you into trouble, even a faint warning of snap over steer is enough to give you ring twitch. That feeling as you pass through 8000rpm with VTEC doing it's thing, for me, yep yep yep! The lack of low down grunt, yeah annoying now and then but if you are awake to what you are doing and are happy stirring the cogs, so what, part of the fun. Interestingly I reckon the S2k has less cabin room than the MX, you have to have a particular style to get in and out of it, some flexibility is helpful. The gearbox is showing it's age (you don't short shift from 3rd or 4th to 6th as that causes long term issues) Firm believer in supporting NZ industry, but dealing with Honda NZ squashes that quickly, rear wheel hub (a 2kg lump of metal that spent 5 minutes in a CNC lathe and then had 5 studs pressed in), Local Honda agents, $338, plus 8 days to get it here as not stocked in the country, Purchased off Amazon, $82 NZD, on my desk at work 6 days later, agents taking the piss IMO. Long term fuel economy (over about 40k) is under 8.1l/100k. One really interesting social difference between the MX and the S2k is the behavior of other "drivers" at traffic lights. By "drivers" I mean backward cap black t shirt wearing low seat sitting spotty clowns, thru to V8 driving bogans with companion pitbulls etc. With the MX, they all sneered and when the lights changed green disappeared in a cloud of smoke (sometimes from the wheels, often from the exhaust pipe :-)) The S2k mostly has the opposite effect, they glance, then take off with minimal drama, not usually prepared to take it on. Don't regret buying either of them, at the end of every day I get out of them with a wee grin of the trip just had.
brapbrap8,
Feb 4, 5:25am
The S2000 had the higest power/CC rating of any non turbo production car until the Ferrari F430 came out and narrowly beat it. You do learn to drive Hondas, they are quite different in their power delivery to most other cars, the low down power is fine for day to day driving. They get much more rewarding when VTEC kicks in at about 6,500RPM though!
richardmayes,
Feb 4, 5:40am
University of Wikipedia says only the 3.0 litre Z4 has comparable power to the S2000.
I'd want to try driving both before I bought either car. No doubt revving to 9000rpm is a lot of fun ****when you're in the mood*** but lazy grunt is nice too.
If what people think of you matters. everyone knows BMWs are powerful and expensive cars, and S2000s just look fast and angry.
If you want a car that will make fordor holdin people respect you (and I don't know why you would) you'll probably need a fordor holdin.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 4, 5:54am
Firstly, you have to decide who this car is for, are you pending 20K for the benefit of small minded bigots who might see you in it?. Or are you buying this for yourself?
If it's the latter, who cares what sort of "image" the car has, buy what makes YOU happy. Life is short, in my opinion the sort of people worth knowing should still want to know you even if you turn up in a pink Fiat 500 Jolly Car.
For me, if I didn't mind front wheel drive (and this in my opinion is one of those rare occasions where RWD can be more fun) I would be considering an Alfa Spider with the beautiful 3.2 V6. You would potentially have a whole lot of change left in your pocket too. These are basically a 156 GTA with no roof. FUN! If you did want to spend your whole budget you could likely afford to import the later model, aggressive looking Spider with the 3.2 from Japan.
If RWD for power slides and the last word in handling was a factor, then I would be tempted to go the whole hog and get a Lotus Elise. If you were careful with your selection and penny's you could likely import one for about 20K NZ. Not sure what they go for here at the moment.
(These ideas are in addition to the S2000, BMW and Mercedes, they get my vote for consideration too.)
My 2C.
richardmayes,
Feb 4, 6:10am
FWD handling can be fun - the willingness to carve up corners harder, because you know no amount of power you pour on will ever make it want to swap ends, makes up for a lot. I drive the Rimutaka hill a lot, in a number of different cars, and a small FWD car with a good communicative steering is pretty hard to beat on that sort of road!
richardmayes,
Feb 4, 6:33am
Toyota MR-S?
Our (older) neighbour has finally found herself a man who looks like a keeper.
. he seems to know who he is, and some days he picks her up from her house in a 1930s US sedan with some sort of lumpy and awesome sounding V8 in it. while other days he drives an MR-S spyder, always with the roof down.
smac,
Feb 4, 6:59am
I probably overly stated the hairdresser comment I guess, just wanted to stir up some comment, so I achieve that ;)
It's not so much I care what others think, (happily drove the mini to Wheels With Attitude in Dannevirke on the weekend and that is a V8 mecca), it's more just being curious what others think of those cars.
The MX5's are a bit of a quandary to me - I mentioned underpowered, but it's actually the look that bugs me. Too pointy and light, same for the spider mentioned above I think. The only one's I've seen that I liked at all had a full front spoiler, whereas the Honda and BMW have that look from stock.
Half my brain has also been looking at Lotus Seven replicas.
edangus,
Feb 4, 7:06am
Personally, there are many beautiful convertibles and coupes out there. Many of which I would buy, but I think they are a "females" car. They are just too damn sexy for a man to drive. Unless we are talking Muscle Cars now those are generally rather brutish looking.
kazbanz,
Feb 4, 11:09am
hey smack have you looked at a Lexus? That LS? 250 I thought looked darn nice.
glang,
Feb 4, 11:31am
Get a S2000, you won't regret it. I'm on my 2nd one, Had a AP1 model for 5 years, then got a AP2. You won't find a AP2 in your price range, plenty AP1 to choose from thou. Find a good one that's been looked after, even 8 years ago when I bought my 1999 AP1 l saw some doggy examples. Still a buzz every time I hop in it, 9000 rev line is useless round town, you'd be doing well over the 50kmh speed limit even in 1st, but great fun on a twisty road or passing cars, and when the vtec kicks in around 7000rpm its awesome, and the sound. you feel like you're in a F1 car. Lack of low down torque never worried me, that's what a gearbox is for.
smac,
Feb 4, 11:43am
Not sure about the 250, but I wouldn't turn down a SC430!
esprit,
Feb 4, 12:30pm
Jazz suggested a Lotus Elise. Forget it, you won't find one within your price range, even if you import one. at least not one that's not an expensive nightmare waiting to happen (ex insurance write-off).
It is the last word in fun, handling and they're quick point-to-point, but you have to be dedicated to use one daily.
poppy62,
Feb 4, 12:48pm
Smac mate, I'drive my Mrs Punto Cabrio with pink seat / steering wheel covers and all, wearing my purple T shirt and oft times my Red jeans. Couldn't give a toss about the rest of the world I enjoy colour and nice (out of the ordinary) cars. I'm basically comfortable in my skin. I would really love to own that Yellow Smart Roadster that has been for sale for quite a while would be my 1st choice in a soft top.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 4, 1:44pm
I was tempted to suggest one of those too, not a practical family vehicle but if this is going to just be your "fun car" they are still really hard to beat IMO.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 4, 1:55pm
Not trying to argue, just trying to understand here.
Say, to pick one at random you bought this one from ebay UK 191497764461 had it pre-checked and it's as good as described.
What I am thinking is, say you make them an offer and get it for 10'500 GBP and then because it's being exported you should be exempt the VAT (I assume this applies to secondhand goods from a dealer?) so it cost you 8'750GBP.
So that's $17'500NZD, if we allow say 5K for shipping, fees and compliance. Yeah, that's over budget by $2'500 but that's not a huge amount, also this was just the first one I found, there may be better bargains to be had. Also what about Japan?
Oh, and I am assuming it won't meet impact laws, but isn't there an exemption for "special vehicles" that can be applied for, or would this be the sticking point?
Interested to hear your thoughts. I haven't done this and know very little about Elise's but am keen to know where it would all fall over, partly for curiosity and partly because it's something I might want to do one day.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 4, 1:59pm
Those Alfa's handle something amazing too, they have a very clever front end suspension setup which works very well. The only catch is they do eat bushes fairly quickly, this isn't end of the world though as they are easy enough to replace and if you want to be miserly you can buy just the bushes on their own very reasonable from TRW who are the OEM supplier.
smac,
Feb 4, 4:12pm
Nah, couldn't do it. Would be after something with a bit of go.
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